Bottle vending machine



June 14, 1949. J. R. DoNALDsON ET Al. w 2473054 BOTTLE VENDING MACHINE Filed NOV. 29, 1945 2 SheetS-Sheet 1 o /J o o 0 June 14, 1949. J. R. DoNALDoN 'r AL. 2,473054 BOTTLE VENDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29, 1945 Patented June 14, 1949 UNITED sr ATEN .OEFFICE "BGTTLE VENDHNG MACHINE f'efferson IRDBonaldson and Newton-8M.l` Hulse, Dallas,l Tex., 'assignors .of thrty-three and onethird pereent'to Dora E. Carter, Dallas, Tex. 'Application'November 29, 1945,"Serial Nof631g632 3 l(Jlairns. 1.1

This invention. relatesto vending and dispensing Lapparatus .fandsmore p'articul'arly to machines :fortvending:'bottled` merchandise.

The ;principal` object 'of .the invention is to provide, in a 'bottle vendingzmachine, mechanism for .storing b'ottles cintan. 'inclined plane, neck uppermost, 'held'inreadiness .for 'discharge onto a transporting'. means; ithe. 'transfer being made without afiecting v'the inclinedportion of the bottles' Which-isili'kewise .the case in transporting the bottle'to a position of access 'to a purchasei'. In maintaining`-the-=bottles in an inclined positionathroughoutpthe` contents are'not permitted to comeinto contact 'with :the cap which sets up a chemical reactionftending to disintegrate the cork seal'andrust the 'cap' if vpermitted to remain in such contact for several'hours at a time.

Another' 'object 'of the'invention is to provide a'novel form iof-support for bottles in temporary storage whichfserves atv 'the same time as a medium'ifor' de'liverng-'bottles single onto the vertical lead of an .endlesszconveyor chain by virtue of the inclinedfiportion of the'support. Moreover, the linvention:includes azpivoted 'bottle restraining arm on the' delivery'edge .of each of a plurality of superimposed supports as mentioned, which arms cooperate'with 'specially constructed lugs on the =conveyor chain'to'prevent premature delivery .of'bottlesrfromstorage magazines and to insuretransferfrom-storage to the said'conveycr chain' singly .andiin the :said'inclined position.

Still another: object of 'the' invention is to provide at the'delivery station r'of said machine a means :by which the bottles, upon being released from the conveyor .chain are 'oonstrained to reverse their positions `of inclination and emerge at the delivery .points'butt'foremost With'the foregoing 'objects as 'paramount the invention has further reference'to certain features of accomplishment which willibecome apparent as the description proceeds,'taken 'in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a'perspective view'of a cabinet, partly broken away to 'show 'the principal elements of the invention therein.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of the conveyor for transferring bottles from storage to the delivery station, viewing the-'same from one side.

Figure fiisafragmentary. view of one of the bottle supporting-plates,- showing the bottle restraining arm.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing schematically the -manner=in-which a bottle is supported on the conveyor chain, the supports being shown per se, and

l2 Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the storage and delivery magazine,- ':viewing. the same'from the left :in' Figurel.

'fCon'tinuingfwitha 'more .detailed description of the-'drawing' reference'is vprimarily made to Figure 1 'wherein'numeral 'lllz'denotes a cabinet, vthe lowerfportion ll'l zaof which =is adapted. to contain arefrigerating unitof conventional manufacture. It'is obv'ious'that this cabinetmay be constructed toniembrace1 any.:"desired external design.

:The-upper portionof va'bin'et H] is divided into twofivertical. compartments' 12' and |3. In compartment 12 is arranged a pluralityl of superimposed-plates ``4I'lwhichare inclined in relation to compartmenti'l'zasfwell as towards the rear wall of ;they cabinet I 0,' hence the bottles 'I 5 supported therein'are'not only xconstrained to lie -in an inclineclrplane on :the 'supporting plates vbut are compelle'bygravity to move towards `the inner and |delivery edge' :of ;the 'said ;plates |4.

Each'zof the .plates l 4 has, at its de1ivery edge, a depending arm16-.Whichf-may'be-'seen in Figure 3. Thiszarm is 'pivoted'zto' a protuberance ll .on the edge of. the 'plate so that'it 'may be elevated by a.=bottle :seeking'esca-pe' from the'magazine immediately'fbelowthe'plate 'l 4 yetrestrains :the bottle'f until vsuch 'time 'as' .all'of .the 'bottles in'the nexthigherfmagazines have' 'been discharged.

Tolcl'arify the. foregoi-ng'itrniay be presumed that all `of'the'storage magazines defined by the series'of..p1ates-|42are-filledz "to capacity with bottles';.asrsuggestedsin'iigure 1. Due'to the inwardrinclinat'ionof plates .314; all of the bottles seek egress .from the'magazines at the inner edges of the. plates. :To :insurecontrolled continuity of :delivery :of bottlesrifirst,l from 'the foremost to the `I'earmost *bottleiinieach magazine andsecond, from the uppermo'stcto the'zlowermost magazine of thezassembly; provi'sion'must 'be made to restrainabottles inzailoweremagazine until all of the bottles :in "thefnext highest magazine v have been discharged. This is accomplished .by vthe depen'ding-.arm l'izwhichzlieszin the path of the bottle'in .theznext ;lowest-magazine and is itself restrainedtagainst outward'fdisplacement *by the bottles '15; suspended'fibyconve-yoi' chains 18, two of whichv are f'provlided W-hos'e vleads are parallel, the-'inner' leads'movihg'inijuxtapositioned relation to 'the bottles 'in the magazines.

`It :ist apparent "that-.With bottles .supported by the: 'inner-'leads' of` Chains ;i 8 1np to 'the first lundepleted magazine,-`-the' bottles `themselves hold the arm 16 in operative position to hold back bottles in the next lowest magazine. However as soon as' the highest bottle on the conveyol? makes to a point below the level of ai'm 18, then the arm may be displaced outwardly by pressure imposed thereon by the bottles in the magazine below. The first bottle in the said latter magazine is then delivered onto the conveyor, followed by the nextI and finally the last hottle, after which the next succeeding lower magazine is similarly depleted. This oontinues until the lowermost magazine is discharged of its bottles.

The conveyor chains 18 being link chains, operate over sprockets in the upper and lower portions of compartment l3. While the sprockets are not shown, shaft 13 whose end is shown protruding from cabinet in Figura 1, is the drive shaft which carries sprockets under' which the foremost and rearmost Chains i extend and ;by which they are driven. At the rear of cabinet ii] in Figure 1, a Chain 2G may be seen which is operated by a motor 2! to drive shaft [9 to in turn drive the chains lS in the manner described.

ft will be observed in Figures 1, 2 and 4 that the ohain i nearest the front of the Gabinet l is equipped with relatively spaced, Z-shaped lugs 22, while the Companion chain [8 disposed rearwardly carries snbstantially L-shaped lugs 23 (Figures 2 and 4). To describe the purpose of these lugs and 'to define the reason for the difference in design thereof, it is pointed out that the bottles, in moving from a support Ill onto the conveyor Chains E, had a tendency to rotate On these Shoulders, that is, on an axis at right angles to their major axes, causing their upper ends on necks to move into the delivery compartment in advance of their bases. This obviously interfered with smooth performance and to overcome this condition, the Z-shaped lug 22 is provided, the depending or tail portion 22a thereof first moving to restrain the upper end of the bottle and, as the conveyor oontinues downwardly, the bottle rolls off the support hl onto the lugs 22 and 23 without axial displaoement. The neck being supported on the shelf a (Figures 2 and 4) formed by the break in the Z-lug while the butt of the bottle lies in the L-shaped lug 23, as shown.

As the bottles descend with the conveyor, supported thereon as described, they are released singly therefrom through the opening 24 (Fig. 1), since they have no restraining means, such as presented by the frame 25 (Fig. 2). At the delivery station and communicating with the opening 2d, there is arranged a Curved chute 26 into the upper end of which the bottles roll off the lugs 22 and 23 of the conveyor chains [8. In rolling down this chute the necks of the bottles engage an upstanding rubber pin 21 on one side of the chute as shown in Figure 1, which causes the bottle to change ends Vand report in the tray ES in door 29 butt foremost and from which the bottle is removed by the purchaser. The door 29 is shown open to reveal the mechanism just described.

In the course of the foregoing description no mention was made of the coin actuated mechanism by which to control the movements of the conveyor chains 18. It is obvious that any suitable mechanism may be employed for this purpose so long as it is effective to cause the motor 2! to operate, upon the insertion of a coin only long enough to advance the conveyor a distance equal to the diameter of a bottle at the delivery end, to permit release of but a single bottle at a time.

The invention, of course, resides in the vending mechanism per se, as descrlbed.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and desoribed is capable of some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A bottle vending machine including juxtapositioned storage and delivery compartments, inclined superimposed bottle supporting plates in said storage compartment defining magazines from which bottles are transferred into said delivery compartment individually and successively from the uppermost to the lowermost magazine, endless conveyor means in said delivery compartment, outwardly hanging means depending from each of said plates, restrained by bottles on said conveyor means for holding bottles against release from 'a magazine until the next highest magazine is depleted, spaced means on said conveyor means for receiving bottles singly from said magazines and for maintaining axial alignment thereof during transfer and means at the lower end of said storage compartment for receiving bottles singly from said conveyor means and for reversing their positions for delivery.

2. A bo-ttle vending machine including Vertically spaced bottle supporting plates elevated at one corner to maintain inclined position and gravitational displacement of bottles supported thereon, conveyors having downwardly moving leads in-juxtapositioned relation to the delivery o edges of said plates, inclined means in spaced relationship on said conveyor for receiving bottles singly from each of said plates, pivoted means depending from the delivery edge of each of said plates and constrained by bottles on said conveyor to operatively restrain bottles on the next lowest plate against displacement until the last bottle on the next highest plate has been delivered 'to said conveyor and means at the delivery end of said conveyor for reversing but maintaining inclined position of said bottles for discharge.

3. A bottle vending machine including a plurality of vertically spaced plates elevated at one corner and defining inclined bottle containing magazines, endless conveyor chains whose vertical, downwardly moving leads are in juxtapositioned relation to the discharge ends of said magazines, means in one magazine, constrained by bottles on said conveyor for restraining bottles in the next lowest magazine against release until the next highest magazine is depleted and means below said magazine assembly for reversing but maintaining inclined position of said bottles for discharge.

JEFFERSON R. DONALDSON. NEWTON M. HULSE.

REFERENCES orrED The following referenice's are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain 1886 

